Stevens R. Miller
Well-Known Member
I recently did a show where our stack of eight wireless mike receivers sat in the wings and fed their analog outputs to some kind of analog-to-digital converter. The converted output came up a data line from the stage to the control booth where it was decomposed back into eight separate signals by a PreSonus SLM244AI mixer. This worked great and eliminated the need for a traditional snake.
Now, a friend I've made in the local community theater sphere is eager to see his company buy a new mixer. As far as I know, they have no digital sound sources. They have a number of wireless mikes, as well as some wired mikes on stage and in the pit. They also use recorded sound effects and music, mostly played out of the analog jack on a computer. This fellow is very eager to buy a digital mixer, but I don't see a reason to do that. As far as I can tell, they tend to cost more than otherwise comparable analog boards. While I can imagine a bit less noise reaching the final amplifiers when mixing is done digitally, I'm not yet convinced that's worth a premium when he has no digital sources.
So my question for today is, if all of your sound sources are analog and will reach your mixer in analog form, what advantages does a digital mixer offer over a purely analog mixer?
Thanks!
Now, a friend I've made in the local community theater sphere is eager to see his company buy a new mixer. As far as I know, they have no digital sound sources. They have a number of wireless mikes, as well as some wired mikes on stage and in the pit. They also use recorded sound effects and music, mostly played out of the analog jack on a computer. This fellow is very eager to buy a digital mixer, but I don't see a reason to do that. As far as I can tell, they tend to cost more than otherwise comparable analog boards. While I can imagine a bit less noise reaching the final amplifiers when mixing is done digitally, I'm not yet convinced that's worth a premium when he has no digital sources.
So my question for today is, if all of your sound sources are analog and will reach your mixer in analog form, what advantages does a digital mixer offer over a purely analog mixer?
Thanks!